


Breathing Easy

by PryingAa



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26601298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PryingAa/pseuds/PryingAa
Summary: Clarke has always done the practical thing, hell, she's a pediatric physician at Sibley Memorial Hospital, one of the best in the country. She is everything her mother dreamed of, but then why is she still so unhappy? It takes Clarke leaving everything behind to move to Elma, a small town in the pacific northwest, to realize that sometimes life is about more than just surviving.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Emori/John Murphy (The 100), Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Comments: 14
Kudos: 56





	1. First Day of the Rest of Your Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, thank you so much for clicking in on this fic! Just a disclaimer... I have been reading Bellarke fanfiction for nearly 10 years now, but this is my first time branching out and trying my own thing! I have had the idea for this fic tumbling around in my head for the past few months, and I just had to get it out! Please let me know what you think, and be sure to leave kudos if you like what I have so far.
> 
> *Update: I have finished Chapter One and edited it so it is actually complete. It took me a minute to figure out AO3 for the first time as a writer! :) I love you all thank you for the kudos already!

Panic doesn’t swoop in the moment Clarke puts in her notice at Sibley, or when she books her plane ticket, not even when the movers show up to throw everything she owns onto a cargo container headed across the country. The anxiety finally strikes the moment she sets the last box down in her brand new kitchen.

Well, it’s not brand new, not like her condo in D.C., but it has charm to it. She also can’t believe this whole flat is only $700 a month, a place like this back home would have been $2,500 easy. Clarke thinks this place just needs a little love, starting with the musty smell that lingers in the living room and kitchen. She walks across the living room to open some of the windows that open out to show the woods behind her building.

The cold air seeps in, even though it’s only noon and August. Just another thing to get used to she thinks. Her anxiety is like the cold chill, creeping up on her, and then she can’t breathe, can’t get herself under control. This must be a mistake, she was miserable in D.C. but now she’s miserable and all alone. Before she can spiral any farther her phone rings loudly in her pocket, temporarily distracting her from her panic attack. She pulls her phone out and genuinely smiles before answering the call.

“Hey sunshine, how goes it?” Wells quips.

“It’s going… fine” she lies “The movers just left, and all I have are the smaller boxes to unpack before my first day of work tomorrow”

“Always so serious Griffin” he scolds, “you should take today to look around the town, find some fun before you hunker down, and never leave your office again”

“There’s nothing to do here Wells, on the way into town I didn’t even see an outlet mall. I’ll just have an early night in to get ready for tomorrow” she can’t hide the way her voice sounds strained but also so glum.

Wells just laughs and she can sense he’s shaking his head at her, “Come on now, enjoy all the perks a small town has to offer, you deserve to be happy Clarke.”

“Yeah yeah, try not to miss me too much…” she laughs.

“Too late, I already do! Take care of yourself” and then they both say their goodbyes.

She sets the phone down and looks up, glancing at the boxes left strewn about in her living room. They can wait a day or two she thinks. She's itching to be outside to stretch her legs. She takes the set of keys she was given and attaches one to her keyring and then steps outside. The air outside is thick and there's even still some fog lingering around the back of the building. Clarke goes down the steps and walks around the building to the main street. Her apartment is on top of a small greasy spoon cafe.

The main street is filled to the brim with small businesses all of which either take up the entire two stories or have apartments on top. Clarke had been searching for apartments in Elma for about 2 months after she got the job offer. There were no subdivisions or big apartment high rises in town, only quaint flats and houses for rent, but she didn't want a big old house just to herself, The flat above the cafe was the perfect compromise. She wonders idly if the cafe might have a decent cup of coffee, but she decides to try it tomorrow.

Clarke walks down the cobbled main street looking at all the buildings on her side, there's the cafe, some sort of boutique called Josephine's, but it looks much too boujee for anything Clarke might wear. She has no idea where she's even going to buy scrubs in a town like this. She tamps down her growing anxiety again and keeps walking as she passes by a barbershop right out of the 1950s, and right next door is sort of an eclectic thrift store called Grounder's Trading Co., Clarke likes the shop's rugged look and files it away for later. Her six-hour flight and all of the unpacking has left her exhausted, not to mention the fact that she's having to adjust to the time zone shift.

The rest of this side of the downtown main drag has a big outdoor store, which makes sense considering the entire place is swamped by trees and mountains all around. Clarke always wanted to do more hiking and exploring, especially studying native plants and animals, it makes her smile to think she just might be in the perfect place.

At the very end of the line, there is the town’s post office, and Clarke strolls in to set up her P.O. box but is shocked to see there is no line, hell, there’s only one other person in here other than the teller at the window. She has to start remembering she’s in a small town with no more than 3,200 people, the annoyances of big city living are behind her.

Clarke quickly fills out a slip and approaches the desk. The woman behind the counter is friendly, but she looks almost as exhausted as Clarke, with deep blue bags under her eyes. She smiles at Clarke and takes the form, scanning it quickly and she goes to retrieve keys and other paperwork. Clarke looks around and sees a small rack containing town info and a few dusty postcards. She grabs some of the brochures and three postcards and walks back towards the counter to fill them out.

When the older woman returns she eyes Clarke warily as she takes in her appearance. Clarke fills out her postcards, one to Wells, one to her Mom, and one to Glass, her old roommate, and arguably her only friend from the old hospital, if you could even call her a friend. When she looks up she catches the woman staring.

“Are you staying in town long?” the woman asks nonchalantly as she rings up the postcards.

“Yes, I’m starting at Summit Pacific this week,” Clarke says, and she notices the woman's name tag reads Robin R.

“As a nurse?” Robin asks.

“No, I’m the new doctor over the pediatric wing” Clarke smiles “I just moved from Washington D.C.”

Robin nods and then looks over her form again, “Doctor Griffin? Well, it’s good to have you, as long as you’ll stay” she smiles, but it looks wistful. She hands Clarke her keys and goes to move away.

“Th- thanks” Clarke manages as she turns to slide the postcards into the outgoing mail and find her P.O. box. It’s in the back of the shabby lobby area, but it’ll do. As she goes to leave she looks over her shoulder and sees the entire office is now empty, and she finds it to be extremely unsettling.

Clarke strides out and back onto the cracked pavement of the main street just as two guys are leaving a restaurant across the street called Dropship, they’re shoving each other playfully and walking down the opposite side of the road. They finally stop and get into a beat-up blue chevy before driving off.

Clarke watches where they left and takes a look at the buildings on the other side, and stops when she sees a bright and chic newer looking storefront, that doesn’t match the old brick aesthetic of the rest of the town. She crosses the street, scanning for other cars, and then laughs at herself when she realizes she’s still in city-mode.

As she walks closer she makes out the name on the glass storefront, “Trikru Fitness”, the gym looks sleek and impressive especially considering the area. Clarke glances down at the Planet Fitness tag on her keyring and sighs. Guess she should join up with the only gym in town. She walks up and pulls the door open, taking in the rich green walls and the flat-screen televisions hung up throughout.

The bell clangs and a girl looks up from where she was picking up some weights off the ground, picking up the 80-pound barbell in one arm with ease. Clarkes stops dead in her tracks when she takes in the rest of the girl’s features. Her eyeliner is bold and striking. More than that, something about her just screams, **do not dismiss me** , and Clarke is momentarily thrown when the girl finally speaks.

“Can I help you?” the girl asks, firm but polite.

“No, well uh, yes” Clarke stammers, “I wanted to sign up for a membership?”

The girl eyes Clarke once over, and it’s the second time in less than twenty minutes that she feels sorely out of place, since everyone here stares at her like she’s an alien from outer space rather than somebody simply new to town.

“Yeah, come on in” the girl finally says, ushering Clarke into a brightly lit office filled with motivational posters and family photos scattered around.

The girl sits down at a computer, and types for a few moments before grabbing a stack of paperwork for her to fill out.

"I'm Octavia, by the way, I'm the manager here at Trikru," she says simply.

Clarke looks up from the forms and smiles, shaking her hand, "I'm Clarke, I just moved in from out of state"

Octavia seems actually interested as she asks, "Oh, where from?"

Clarke finishes up with the forms and hands them back to Octavia "D.C. I lived there my whole life."

Octavia looks shocked, "So you traded one Washington for another, huh?" and then she laughs loudly.

"Yep, basically," Clarke says, surprising herself when she laughs too.

Octavia looks over the form quickly and then her eyes dart to Clarke's, "You're only 25? Our birthdays are exactly a month apart!"

Octavia is beaming, and Clarke is overwhelmed at how quickly this girl goes from terrifying to friendly, it's intense.

"Wow, I can't believe that. You look so young!" Clarke says, astonished.

"Yeah, I get that a lot, it's just good genes I guess," Octavia says raising her eyebrows theatrically.

Clarke laughs, honestly laughs, and she feels like it comes out all wrong, but Octavia doesn't say anything. She just stands up and claps her hand to Clarkes back as she leads her out of the office and back into the huge gym area.

She spends the next twenty minutes leading Clarke around, showing her all the different weight equipment, cardio machines, and then the full-scale boxing ring they have in the back, paired with a few heavy bags and speed bags off to the side. Octavia seems proud of that most of all, and she tells Clarke that the owner, Indra Trikru, dreamed of owning a fighting gym all her life and now she and Octavia are working on building it up to be boxing and Muay Thai gym that people from all over the PNW will come to train at. Clarke can't help but respect the grind, even though she doesn't know the first thing about martial arts. Octavia talks animatedly about her training as a fighter and how she loves training others. It doesn't sound like a sales pitch, it just sounds like this girl is a badass, and she is seemingly offering Clarke a few free lessons.

Octavia also doesn’t seem the type to take no for an answer, and Clarke finds herself graciously accepting the offer for a lesson or two, and she prays she’ll find the time outside of work to take Octavia up on it.

After the tour Octavia sets Clarke up with a membership card, a key fob, and even a free tee-shirt.

Octavia goes to hand her the bag of swag and at the last moment slides Clarke a business card with her cell phone number scrawled at the bottom.

“Let me know if you need any help finding fun stuff to do in Elma, I know all the spots” Octavia grins.

“ I have no doubt you do” Clarke laughs, “I don’t know when I’ll have the time though”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m working at the new pediatric center up the road” Clarke sighs, “I never used to get much time to myself outside of work back home”

“Well if you ever get any time away, you know where to find me, Clarke, don’t be a stranger.”

They both smile genuinely, and then Clarke makes her way back out onto the street. Clarke can’t help but laugh, thinking of how Octavia literally _**is**_ a stranger. Still, the interaction somehow feels more intimate than anything she experienced before.

Her stomach growls aggressively, announcing to the entire world that it has been… at least a day since she has eaten. Clarke just has so much trouble eating when she’s anxious, it’s nearly impossible. After the events of the past day, and in part due to the calm Clarke feels after meeting Octavia, she decides she can probably stomach something light.

Clarke thinks back to the place she saw earlier, where the guys stumbled out of, and she makes her way back down the street, abandoning her quest to check out the rest of the businesses on the block. She has all the time in the world after all.

A minute later she’s opening the heavy pub door and sliding inside. Right away she can smell burgers and beer. The bar is grungy but impressive and Clarke thinks she even sees some top-shelf liquor stashed away in one corner. The tables are all neutral tones with chrome and metal accents. It looks retro and futuristic all in one.

She spots the bartender, a slender brunette that is sunkissed and gorgeous, and she looks like she is overzealously flirting with all the guys on her side of the bar. Clarke tries to get her attention covertly, but her eyes slide right past Clarke and back to the guys.

Frustrated, Clarke thinks she’ll just try out that cafe under her flat after all, and she goes to leave. Just as she turns she hears a guy’s voice ring out.

“Miss, I can take your order over here”

She turns and sees a stocky guy, pale, with black hair flopped over into his face. He looks bored on the surface, but he’s wearing a small grin when Clarke finally approaches the bar.

“Uhm, yeah, can I see a menu?” Clarke asks hesitantly.

He slides one across the bar and she glances at it. There are so many options and Clarke’s stomach growls, on cue. She abandons the idea of eating something light and thinks of getting a whole pizza just for herself.

“What’s good here?” she asks.

“Everything” the man laughs.

“Do they pay you to say that?” Clarke says, quirking a brow.

“Well, seeing as how this is my bar, I guess I am the best judge”

Clarke laughs nervously, but he still seems unphased and a little bit sarcastic.

“The burgers are my favorite though,” he says.

A burger sounds like heaven, Clarke thinks. Right as she’s about to order the girl from before appears, with a scowl on her face, and a ticket in her hand.

“Murphy, we’re really backed up over here, are you almost done?”

He turns and shoots her a look, gesturing to Clarke.

“I’ll be done in a just a sec Roma, kay?” and he turns back to Clarke, instantly aloof again.

“So about that burger…” Clarke jokes.

“Definitely, what do you want on it?” Murphy grins.

“I don’t mind, whatever you think is best.”

“Hmmm… a burger for a city slicker. I don’t have any avocado, sorry..” he says mock apologetically.

“Hey!” Clarke shakes her head, “we don’t all like avocado like that… how could you tell anyway?”

Murphy just laughs and walks down the bar and then disappears into the kitchen in the back.

Clarke huffs, but she can’t help but smile at the way people here seem to poke fun without actually meaning any ill intent.

That girl, Roma, glances at Clarke now and then with a look of annoyance. Clarke tries to brush it off, so she just looks around the restaurant taking in all the space-themed artwork, and one large canvas print of the international space station. Upfront there's metal letters strung up above the bar that says 'D R O P S H I P' and it makes the place feel like it was carved out of a crashed engine shell.

The people packed into tables and seated at the bar are people of all ages, and Clarke gets the impression this is one of the most popular spots in town and for good reason.

A few minutes later Murphy emerges with a tray in hand and he sets it down ceremoniously in front of her at the bar.

"Quarter pound burger, with gouda cheese, lettuce, extra tomato, onion, mayo, and my secret recipe chipotle sauce. With my world-famous.. patent pending.. pizza fries!" Murphy bows, waiting for applause.

"Mayo on a burger?!" Clarke gags.

"Don't knock it til you try it" Murphy winks, and while she is taking her first bite he sets a drink on the counter next to her.

Clarke thinks she might melt on the spot. The burger is mouth-wateringly good and the mayo slaps, she immediately feels embarrassed for bashing the idea moments before. Instead, she takes a sip of the drink and isn't surprised when it's beyond delicious.

"Okay... I can admit when I'm wrong" Clarke says through small sips. "What is this though?"

Murphy laughs and pumps his fist, reveling in his victory. "it's fresh root beer I keep on tap. A buddy of mine makes it."

"This is... amazing!" Clarke digs in, not even embarrassed by how quickly she devours her burger.

Murphy laughs. "I'm glad you like it," he says warmly "but I'm not surprised..." he adds quickly. "What's your name, city slicker?"

"It's Clarke, and I'm not a city slicker... anymore," she says after a few more bites.

"Oh yeah? You must be the one that moved up above the cafe."

Clarke blanches, uncomfortable with seemingly being talked about behind her back. She's instantly transported back to D.C. where people stared after her, whispering about the scandal between her parents when they didn't think she could hear.

Murphy notices her shift immediately and despite his bitter and sarcastic exterior he tries in earnest to cheer her up. "We never thought that dump would get rented out. It was vacant for almost two years before you got here." Murphy laughs.

Clarke recovers her mood almost instantly and laughs as well. "The place is fine, I'm going to paint inside and spruce it up a little!"

"Sure thing," Murphy says skeptically, but then he grins wide.

Just then Roma slides in again and leans in to tell Murphy something. He scowls momentarily and then turns back to Clarke. He refills her drink and then bows again. "I'll leave you to it then," he says.

Clarke goes back to her food and starts digging into the.. pizza fries as Murphy called them. They're crispy fries doused in marinara and shredded asiago and mozzarella cheese with basil on top, Clarke thinks she must be making up for all the meals she skipped with just this one meal. She grins, thinking of what Wells would think. She pulls out her phone and snaps a pic to send to him. You can just make out some of the spacey decor as well as her massive half-eaten meal, but most of all is her smiling face, beaming at the camera. She sends it and starts tackling the burger before it gets cold.

The restaurant stays pretty busy for the rest of the afternoon, and Clarke enjoys the steady hum of voices as she eats. Murphy stays busy and doesn't get the chance to stop by her table much except to shove more glasses of root beer at her and poke fun at her lack of faith in his cooking.

She finally feels full, but there's still a massive side of fries on her tray. Murphy, ever the good host, senses her distress immediately and asks if she wants a box. She nods and he disappears mysteriously back into the kitchen. She tries to wait patiently, but after a few minutes, she wonders how long it could honestly take to get a to-go box. Just then, he emerges with the box and cup.

"For the road," he says as he shows her the to-go box full of fresh pizza fries and a cup of what she assumes is root beer.

"No, absolutely not!" Clarke argues petulantly.

"Welcome to the neighborhood, Clarke," Murphy says graciously before slipping back into the kitchen to handle the rush of people that just came in.

Clarke won't give up that easy, she grabs a pen, draws a face on her napkin, and leaves $40 next to it with an arrow towards Murphy's name. Satisfied with her comeback she stands up, a bag of food in tow, and leaves Dropship, but definitely not for the last time.


	2. Carry the Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke has her first day of work and at her orientation, she meets another new hire... who will it be? Place your bets now guys!
> 
> Just a disclaimer: this is going to be a long fic, and unfortunately for you folks, I love angst... so just be patient for our two dumbasses to finally meet! :)

Clarke woke bright and early Monday morning with an eagerness that seemed to permeate from head to toe. She's never been too fond of eating breakfast, but she wandered into the kitchen to eat the rest of the snacks she had packed for her flight yesterday. Going grocery shopping had completely slipped her mind after the wonderful day she had yesterday. As far as Clarke can remember, she had never woken up so happy. Even as she bit down on her granola bar and scrolled through her phone, she felt excited and hopeful for what the day would bring.

She had spent the remainder of the night before unpacking boxes and taking inventory of the stuff she would need to buy the next time she was in the range of any sort of department store. The furniture she had brought would work just fine for now, but she was missing some of the small pieces she had left behind in D.C. Other than furniture she thought it might be nice to get some real decorations other than her own art, which wasn't much to look at. She had hung all of it that she brought and then unpacked all of the other miscellaneous boxes. All of her clothes were unpacked and hung up in the closet, and now she was even in her finest scrubs, which wasn't saying much, but whatever. She tied her hair up haphazardly and made for the door.

She walked down the steps, breathing in the dense and cool air, it was still so fresh and new to Clarke. It was just one more reminder of how foreign and new this place was, in a good way this time. She strolled from behind the building to walk into the cafe, and she noticed how quaint and peaceful the place felt. Luna's cafe felt like it was cut right out of a cottagecore magazine. The orange Edison lights were turned down low and the soft yellow paint and brown wood accents were calming. The smell of fresh coffee reached Clarke the moment she opened the door, but she hesitated, unsure of what to say to Luna, who was also her landlord. Luckily, she didn't have to worry too much because Luna was the first to speak.

"Good morning, how is moving going?" Luna asked.

"Oh, it's great, the movers got done yesterday morning and I finished unpacking last night." Clarke smiled genuinely, "I love the place."

"Don't be afraid to add your own touches, like we talked about. I know the place could use a little TLC" Luna apologized.

"That's ok! I love having little projects to work on like that, it's going to be a lot of fun."

"I'm glad to hear it, Clarke, would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, just a splash of cream, no sugar, thank you so much, Luna."

Clarke smiled, it was nice to have such a friendly landlord, especially one who was willing to give her the freedom to customize the place, that was extraordinarily rare.

Clarke took a seat at one of the small black bistro tables near the entrance and waited for her coffee. It was starting to drizzle ever so slightly outside, and Clarke loved how it made the woods surrounding the town feel alive rather than dreary like in D.C. She was watching the trees sway in the wind when Luna approached with a coffee in her hand.

"Have a good first day at work, Clarke. Say Hi to Anya for me, will you?" Luna said as she handed the coffee over.

"Thank you, I will" and Clarke picked up her stuff and headed back outside.

Luckily it was a quick walk back behind the building so she didn't get rained on. Clarke pulled open the door to the rover and pulled herself inside quickly. She was glad the movers came early so she wasn't left without a car with only the clothes in her suitcase.

Clarke made her way east down the main street a few miles to Summit Pacific Medical Center. As she drove by she noticed how the town seemed to be waking up, people walking or sitting outside on their porches, enjoying the crisp morning. The town wasn't boring at all, it was charming. Clarke wished she had waited to form an opinion before she told Wells the town was lame. She tried to think more positively, especially when the hospital came into view. It was very calm compared to Sibley Memorial, but she felt like it still had all the same chaotic energy of a bustling hospital once she got inside. She had only seen pictures online, and she had to go off of what Anya said during her phone call and skype interviews to get a good grasp of what the place would be like. As her mother liked to remind her, "it's gravely irresponsible to take a job without doing your research first!" When did Clarke ever claim to be responsible? She scolds herself for thinking negatively _**again**_ as she parks and gets out of her range rover. She takes a few sips of her coffee before walking in through the front doors.

The hospital is stark white with blue and green signs, directing to all the different wings of the hospital. Clarke knows better than to try to track down Anya within the whole hospital so she approaches the front desk and talks to the admin assistant, her nameplate says Monroe, to find out which direction she should head off in.

"Hello, I am looking for Anya Lachman," Clarke speaks carefully, trying to sound as level as possible.

"Yes absolutely, may I ask your name?"

"Clarke... Griffin. It's my first day."

"Oh! You're Clarke? Just one moment..." and then Monroe picks up the phone, dials an extension, and starts talking quietly to whoever is on the other side.

She hears Anya's authoritative voice at the end of the hallway before she sees her, and she waits patiently as the sound of her heels on the floor grows louder and closer.

Anya emerges from the end of the corridor and walks right up to Clarke, eagerly grasping her hand.

"I just got off the phone with the department of health services, your license was just transferred over from Silbey yesterday, on a Sunday. You must know some people in high places." Anya jokes.

Clarke grins widely, she is used to people making jokes at her expense about her vast connections, thanks to how much weight the name 'Griffin' carries back home, but Anya just seems simply impressed.

"Well, I was excited to be here!" Clarke laughs, and then gestures to her coffee cup."Also, Luna says hello."

"We're glad to have you, come with me so we can get started with everything, and I hope Luna didn't hold you up too long this morning" and Clarke can't help but notice the way Anya fidgets with her bracelets on her arms when she says the last part. Then Anya pulls her swiftly down the maze of hallways until they reach a corridor with a small waiting room and a series of offices just to the left. Clarke imagines the piles of paperwork and computer modules she will surely have to complete before she can actually start.

Clarke always gets anxious when she knows she's going to be bombarded with new information, and she feels her palms start to sweat and her throat tightening, but then she sees another girl waiting just as anxiously, with her hands fidgeting around in her lap. If Anya notices the anxiety seeping into the room, she doesn't react, but she gestures for the girl to stand. 

"Good morning ladies, before we get started with the day I just wanted to introduce you two since you're both new to town and starting your first day together. It's good to have somebody to complain about small-town problems with" and Anya laughs to herself, "I'll just go grab your W4s and all your other onboarding paperwork" and then she strolls easily from the room.

Clarke turns and sees the pale woman, now standing, is watching where Anya left before she turns to asses Clarke. Her brown-black hair tumbles down her shoulder in waves, and there is something so delicate about her nose and mouth that makes her look fragile. Clarke realizes she has been staring too long, so she extends her hand graciously, "Hey, I'm Clarke, it's nice to meet you"

The woman takes Clarke's hand after a moment and shakes it lightly "I'm Maya, I'm going over in the oncology wing, radiation specifically."

Clarke smiles, "that's great, I'm in pediatric intensive care, we may see each other now and then" 

The corner of Maya's mouth turns up, "definitely, where are you from?"

"Washington D.C., I just finished up my fellowship at Sibley Memorial"

Maya's eyes bulge when she recognizes the name of the prestigious branch off of Johns Hopkins. "You're a doctor?"

"Yep..." Clarke blushes and scrambles to find a new topic, "where did you go to school?"

"Seattle main campus. I just graduated in June, but it took me a while to find a job with how competitive things are in Seattle right now." 

"Yeah, I get that!" Clarke smirks and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Just then they hear the familiar sound of Anya's heels reverberating off of the bare hospital walls, and she returns with both stacks of paperwork.

Anya directs Maya to a small room back down the hall and then Anya leads Clarke to an alcove at the end of the corridor, she leans into one office and turns on the lights, and then nods for Clarke to follow, the office a little less than a 7 x 7 and gestures to the desk. "How do you like it? It stays pretty quiet over on this side of the hospital." 

"This is mine?" Clarke asks, dumbfounded, though she thinks she should have expected this.

"Absolutely, you'll occasionally have to meet with patients for their out-patient care needs, and we allocate one office per M.D. we have almost 40 offices on this floor, and 40 on the second floor, as well as an auxiliary office building across the street. You'll have most of your meetings either within your wing, upstairs in the conference room, or here in this office, so get comfortable." Anya grins, and then leaves Clarke to fill out the paperwork in peace. 

After a beyond boring 30 minutes, Clarke sets her pen down and inspects the office. She went from having a cramped condo she rented with Glass, and a shared office for interns at Sibley, to now her own apartment and her own office, all to herself. She tried to imagine the last time she had so much personal space, and nothing in her recent memory comes to mind. She inspects the office and finds a shabby Windows 8 computer on the desk as well as a 'Welcome Aboard' packet with a couple of matching Summit Pacific pens, notebooks, and notepads. She grabs the notepad and her new pen to write out a list of office supplies to pick up from the store when she gets the chance, she's always been such a hoe for art and office supplies. Clarke folds the list and puts it into the pocket of her scrubs and decides to launch herself into the new day headfirst.

Clarke's winning attitude must make all the difference because she doesn't feel herself get overwhelmed at all throughout the day. Anya gives her a brief tour of the hospital with Maya, they stop by each of their wings and Clarke gets to know all of the other nurses and doctors in Oncology and then they make their way to the ICU. It is bustling with activity and Anya just seems to glide around the chaos, turning heads as she does. Nurses stop and acknowledge her as she passes and she introduces Clarke and Maya to everyone they meet. Everyone stares a little too long at each of them, but Clarke doesn't mind, it's not unusual in a hospital, especially in a small town. Then Anya stops short and pulls a man away from a stack of papers he was looking through at the main nurse's station. He looks up, annoyed, and then beams when he sees Anya.

Anya smiles and quickly nods in Maya and Clarke's direction. "This is doctor Eric Jackson, he's the current director of our growing PICU unit!"

"Just Jackson is fine," he says and he steps forward to shake both of our hands.

Maya smiles shyly and seems to back off, letting Clarke and him share a moment, and she can't help but feel like they're sizing each other up.

"You must be Dr. Griffin," Jackson says simply.

"Just Clarke is fine," she says, echoing him exactly. 

Jackson looks between Clarke and Anya and then laughs, and the tension seems to roll right off.

"It's really good to have you Clarke, and I'm not just saying that because you're my only ticket to having a weekend off ever again."

They all laugh and then a nurse approaches to speak with Jackson. Anya moves aside to give them some space, but before they leave the ICU wing Jackson whispers something to Anya, and Clarke catches every other word, but she has a growing suspicion it's something to do with her, but they both just grin and nod before Anya walks back to Clarke and Maya.

After the rest of the tour is done Anya sits them both down to go through the hospital's overview of rules and regulations. It is pretty much the same everywhere, but with this hospital being much smaller than Clarke has ever seen, they have to rely on each other way more than usual. Clarke thinks she likes that much better than feeling lost in a sea of people in a big city hospital. The anxiety that usually rides shotgun in Clarke's psyche is still surprisingly absent, even as Anya starts to talk about local resources for when the job gets too stressful. Clarke remembers some of the long nights bleeding together towards the end of her fellowship at Sibley, misery had sewn its way into every breath and she hadn't been able to shake it off until she started to tell Wells about it and he suggested talking to one of the campus psychiatrists once a week. Clarke wonders if she'll find more of the same here, and she can feel her mood starting to take a nosedive. Only then does she realize she has zoned out when Anya is wrapping things up and dismissing them for lunch. 

"Just make sure you work on establishing a support network here," Anya says patting both of their hands. "I'll see you back in an hour or so."

Maya and Clarke part their separate ways, Maya packed her lunch and walks to the break room to go eat whereas Clarke realizes she didn't bring anything at all, so she makes her way into the maze of hallways to find the cafeteria Anya showed her earlier. 

The cafeteria is cramped and dull, but the food actually smells edible, which is better than Clarke could say for a lot of the hospitals she's cycled through growing up with Abby. Clarke eyes chicken fingers and fries but makes herself compromise by grabbing a cup of fruit as well. She pays and finds that lunch here is significantly cheaper than one at Sibley, which is another welcome surprise. She should still start trying to pack her lunch though, she makes a note to hit up a grocery store later tonight and then finds an open table. Clarke sees admin and nurses alike congregated at tables, some joking casually and some just making idle conversation. Clarke thinks it feels just like high school all over again, but she sits quickly and starts eating. She wants to finish up lunch early and get back to work, she's eager to find Jackson again and get a better read on what his vibe is like. As she finishes eating she looks around and tries to recognize anyone from her wing. She only recognizes one girl, but can't remember her name. Monroe possibly? Clarke gets up and tosses her empty tray and heads back down the halls towards her shiny new office.

When she gets back to her office she finds the stack of papers has been taken, but in its place is a kit with a white doctor's coat with Summit Pacific stitched onto the one side, the kit also had a badge in it as well as a tiny brick. Clarke realizes in astonishment that it's a pager. She had no idea hospitals still used them. She never saw one at Sibley, but she was aware they were still widely used. She decides she'll have to look up how to use one, and the thought is embarrassing. She pockets everything and clips the badge in place and then walks back out. The ICU is only a few turns from her office, but it is still far enough that she could easily get lost if she wasn't paying attention. 

She makes it in just as Jackson is saying goodbye to all the second shift nurses that are just coming in to work. Jackson walks up to a man, in a firemen's uniform, and kisses him swiftly before going to leave. "Let's go," the other man says as he puts his arm around Jackson and leads him towards the door on the opposite of the room.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jackson," Clarke says in passing as she walks by the nurses' station. 

Jackson spins around quickly and meets her stare, "Oh, Clarke!" he nods to the man next to him, "I didn't think I'd see you again before I left. By the way, this is Miller, Nathan Miller."

Clarke smiles warmly at the both of them and extends her hand, "Hey Miller, I'm Clarke, does everybody in this town go by their last name?"

"Yes," Jackson and Miller say in unison. 

They all laugh and then Clarke finds that she doesn't want to keep them waiting, but she did want to catch up with Jackson for a moment before he leaves for the day.

"So.. Dr. Jackson, do you have a minute?"

Jackson nods at Miller and then steps aside with Clarke into one of the alcoves away from the patients. They spend 5 minutes coordinating a plan for Clarke to shadow him for the rest of the week, so she can feel confident she has the hang of things in a week's time. Jackson is immensely helpful, not to mention charming as hell. He teaches Clarke some of the tricks of the trade, even down to what coffee Anya likes in the morning. Clarke is so grateful for his help, and she tells him so. He grins widely and grasps her hand, "I'm just so glad you're with us, Clarke, you have no idea how excited I've been to add another doctor to our growing program." and Clarke feels herself smile from ear to ear. They talk for another moment about scheduling and then Miller comes to rescue Jackson from Clarke's endless questioning. 

Just as Jackson steps away he looks past Clarke, at something behind her, and then he murmurs, "and don't worry about Ontari, she's harmless."

"Alright?" Clarke says slowly, wondering why his entire demeanor shifted. 

He smiles and pats her once as he passes, meeting Miller at the door and stepping out. 

Clarke shifts from foot to foot wondering what to do next, she hasn't been assigned any patients since she doesn't technically start until tomorrow. Anya might have some more information for her, or she can simply spend the rest of the day learning the ins and outs of the hospital, starting with her own unit. She turns and starts to inspect the nurses' station, finding it tidy and organized thoroughly. She looks up to see a woman in a matching white coat, her eyes are piercing brown, almost black, and her black hair is tied up in intricate braids hanging down her back. Without even reading her name badge she knows it must be Ontari.

"You must be the infamous Doctor Griffin," the woman says simply, but she doesn't extend her hand. 

Clarke thinks of correcting her but then reconsiders. She nods once, "Yeah, it's nice to meet you Ontari"

"Doctor Rhiannon is fine," she says smoothly. 

Clarke apologizes and then directs her attention to the rest of the wing. "Do you typically work the shift alone with just nurses?" 

"Mostly, there is some overlap between MD shifts, but this wing is still relatively small," Ontari says simply, but Clarke thinks she hears something behind what she's saying.

Just then, Anya walks in, looking surprised to find Clarke there with Ontari. She smiles graciously and pulls Clarke away from Ontari, relaxing Clarke almost immediately. Clarke explains that she finished up lunch early, so she thought she would come to see Jackson and sort out a good plan for the rest of the week. Anya looks pleased and explains to Clarke that she was coming down here to do just that, but is glad Clarke worked out a plan that is best. Anya promises to introduce Clarke to the 3 other doctors in her wing as well as countless other doctors in the hospital that she will have to work with to coordinate treatment plans with patients in her wing. 

Anya spends the rest of the afternoon with Clarke going over different hospital protocol, but it is nothing new to Clarke. She learns all about the town and the culture here. Elma could be a bigger town, especially with it's closeness to Olympia and the greater Seattle area, but the folks here are content with what they have and don't often seek to expand. The changes at Summit Pacific are an unusual change, but a welcome one. Who wouldn't want the best for their kids? Clarke is surprised to find that multiple wings in the hospital are expanding, geriatrics, and mental health services being the other two biggest. Clarke loves the focus on mental health, as in her experience it is always left behind. Elma, and Grays Harbor County as a whole, is surprisingly progressive despite being rural. Clarke once again has the feeling she picked the right place to call home, at least for now. 

It's too early to judge, but Anya seems to like Clarke, whether it be her eagerness to jump in feet first, or the recommendations she was written back at Sibley. In fact, when she had told Dr. Lahiri she had been considering moving out to the pacific northwest after her fellowship, her director had called Anya, apparently an old friend from college, directly with a glowing report of Clarke's successes at Sibley. After some more research, Clarke found Washington to be perfect, especially Elma, and it was like everything had fallen into place. Now that she was standing in Anya's office, talking about the realities of the job and all of the exciting prospects, Clarke felt like she was dissociating, worlds away. She was so grateful to be there, but sometimes her own doubts started to cloud her vision. 

All of the pressure of the first day, the new hospital map that made her head spin, and the semi-awkward conversation with Ontari seemed to tackle her all at once. She could barely register Anya thanking her for a great first day and promising to see her tomorrow. Clarke thanked her profusely and then tried to find her way quickly to the exit. As soon as she made it to her car she spotted Maya leaving for the day as well. She used the last of her social energy to wave and tell her she hoped it went well. 

She slid into the Rover and tried to work on her breathing exercises. Her anxiety wasn't unmanageable yet, but it was starting to make the corners of her vision hazy. She focused on google mapping a nearby grocery store and found that there were only local markets, and a farmers market open on weekends. The nearest Safeway was 25 miles out in Aberdeen. Clarke sighed and hoped the local places would work out okay until she could make a big trip sometime later on. After a few more steady breaths Clarke felt back in control and pulled out of the hospital's parking lot to head back towards the center of town to East County Thriftway. Clarke found a spot easily and put her regular jacket over her scrubs before going in, at least trying not to stand out. 

She walked inside the dingy market and made her way through the aisles with her basket, picking up some random stuff as well as things to make lunch and a few dinners this week. Clarke wasn't a great cook, but she knew she could keep herself alive if need be. Glass had done most of the cooking at their old flat, and she supposed she may have to learn to make some more substantial meals now that she was on her own. Meal planning was also an exhausting concept after a long day, so Clarke found herself thinking of just ordering more food from Dropship and taking it easy this week.

She stuck with the 3 or 4 days worth of food she had already picked out and made her way towards the checkout. There was no automated self check out machines or even an express lane, just regular registers with cashiers at the end. Clarke couldn't remember the last time she had used a register but stood to wait patiently in line. She studied the rest of the market and decided it wasn't actually half bad, especially the prices. Her mom shopped exclusively at Whole Foods back home and Clarke was always nauseated by how much basic staples like fruits and veggies cost. Small town living was affordable, she could admit that.

Thinking of her mom just reminded her of how badly she needed to call Abby. The very thought sent tiny prickles of icy anxiety shooting up her spine. Every conversation Clarke had with her since announcing her big move had been clipped and tense, Clarke actually wasn't sure if she had been disowned. The idea of being disowned and alone seemed to flood her with terror, and she used the grounding techniques she had learned so many years ago to distract herself from her onslaught of negative thoughts. She looked around the market again while she waited, next in line, she studied the man in front of her, who was standing with his back to her, and she followed the lines of his shoulders and sides up into his messy hair. Inhaling and exhaling in a slow measured rhythm seemed to be helping as well and she listened to the sound of the beeps of the cashier ringing up the man's groceries. Clarke felt surprisingly relaxed, and let her mind stay empty and numb until it was her turn.

Clarke emptied her small basket onto the belt and took one last look at the man as he was making his way out of the front doors with his back still to her. She was thankful for the distraction and was even feeling a little better as she made idle conversation with the cashier. After bagging up all of her groceries and paying Clarke made her way back outside to the rover just as the sun was setting over the hills to the north. Clarke loved the cooler nights and the orange-red hues of the sky. She put her groceries into the back of the rover and headed home cruising through the desolate main streets until she reached her building.

That night when her head hit the pillow, she had no clue why, but she felt a little more hope than she had the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... what did you think? Were you right? Please leave a comment below and a kudos if you enjoyed it. I love you all <3
> 
> Also, this is what I imagine Clarke's apartment looks like... before she makes it look like an art studio c:
> 
> https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13560-37th-Ave-S-APT-28-Tukwila-WA-98168/2100462359_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare


	3. Daysleeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke is finally getting into the swing of things with work, and she finds herself making time to spend with... friends? Clarke doesn't know how long the good tidings will last, but she's here to ride the wave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... first of all... the elephant in the room. That ending. That entire season frankly. How are you guys doing? I am beyond disappointed and heartbroken, but I'm relieved to find people already recovering by writing their own endings and finding peace with the S6 ending. Follow me on Tumblr @bellamy-blaking for more anti-jroth rants and for possible one-shots? 
> 
> I'm speeding things up a bit since I'm so impatient, so this is the last chapter until the angst convention featuring our two keynote speakers: dumb and dumber! I love them endlessly <3
> 
> Anyway, I hope this chapter brightens your day, as I am keeping it light since Clarke deserves that too!

The next few days fall into a steady rhythm Clarke has come to love. She has a late start for the rest of the week, so with her mornings she hits up Trikru in the mornings and sips coffee at home until it's her time to go in at noon, the shifts at Summit are only 9 hours instead of her normal 11 or 12. They delegate an extra hour for charting and miscellaneous paperwork, so Clarke goes in an hour early to knock it out each day. The shifts stay steadily busy, but with Jackson by her side directing her to all the small intricacies, she feels more ready than ever to take over on her own starting next Tuesday. 

Friday is the first day she sees Octavia at Trikru when she goes in for her morning workout. The minute she opens the swinging door into the gym, she sees Octavia high kicking a standing bag over and over again, with the intensity of a real warrior. Clarke subconsciously gulps and then treads into the locker room to drop off her stuff. When Clarke comes back out she decides to play it cool on the treadmill and not call attention to herself. Just as soon as Clarke steps up onto one, Octavia sees her in the reflective mirror from across the gym and she turns around yelling to Clarke.

"Hey, nice of you to finally stop by" Octavia beams and takes in Clarke's casual gym outfit, just yoga pants, and tank top a little too large for her.

"Well _**I**_ have been here every morning since Monday, but I didn't see you," Clarke says with mock defensiveness.

Octavia just laughs and motions for Clarke to follow her to the back right corner of the gym where the boxing ring is. Octavia starts wrapping up her hands and putting velcro arm pads on while Clarke relaces her shoes and checks to make sure none of her waves have slipped out of her high ponytail.

"I'm super glad you came in when you did..." Octavia turns, gesturing for Clarke to come to sit down on a bench, "I don't have any sessions until 10, so we've got nearly 2 hours to kill."

"Oh, uh... you meant here" Clarke laughs nervously as she gestures to the boxing ring next to them. "I thought you meant like running or lifting weights."

"You should just feel grateful one of the best kickboxers in the state is willing to kick your sorry ass" Octavia taunts as she hands Clarke a new package of hand wraps.

Clarke laughs, but she thinks there's a good chance Octavia could knock her out in two seconds flat if she wanted to. Just then, Octavia launches up over the ropes and lands in the boxing ring so Clarke is eye level with her calves made of industrial-grade steel. Clarke can't decide if it's hot or just terrifying. She turns her attention back to the hand wraps; she learned how to wrap sprains and other wrist injuries in college, so she tries to imitate that, but still give herself dexterity, and Clarke thinks she actually did a pretty good job wrapping it. She shows it to Octavia who actually seems slightly impressed. Clarke gets up onto the platform and slowly tries to make her way through the ropes to get into the ring, nowhere near as graceful as Octavia. 

Octavia helps her through and then takes a position at the opposite side of the ring studying Clarke who is standing awkwardly, not exactly sure how to hold herself. Octavia lifts her big arm pads and locks in her stance, "Show me how you throw a punch, Griffin."

* * *

Clarke gets back to her apartment feeling sore but also amazing, and she grimaces at the crunching sound her knuckles make while she makes breakfast before work.

Octavia is surely a hardass, Clarke has never had a workout like that in her life, she apparently didn't even know how to make a fist correctly before Octavia showed her. Nearly two hours of punching and kicking and hustling around the small ring left Clarke feeling exhausted, but not too much to work today at least. She made it back to her place in just enough time to scramble some eggs and hop in the shower. Clarke has never been super keen on makeup, and it's good it doesn't take her super long to get ready, as she has to do is put up her hair in a ponytail and head out the door. 

Clarke walks down the stairs, she managed to find a couple of hardy outdoor plants and even a cute doormat with mushroom drawings on it at the hardware store on the other side of town. It's just the first part of her big plans for this place. Her next day off is Saturday and she thinks she may start painting the kitchen and changing some of the cabinet door knobs to something more chic. The exciting new prospects for the apartment give Clarke something to look forward to, especially with the grueling day ahead.

Jackson takes off on Friday's, so it'll just be Clarke and Ontari. Their interactions so far have been pretty hostile, and Clarke doesn't really know why. She has tried just keeping things business casual and even bringing rolls from the cafe in for everyone in her wing (and Maya) but Ontari didn't go for it and keeps things pretty short and clipped. Clarke has no faith in getting much done today since she still doesn't have patients until next week, she'll probably just hover around and try to avoid Ontari as much as possible. The other nurses seem to get along with Clarke fine, especially Trina and Pascal who she was pretty sure were both working in her unit today. Clarke was relieved to know the entire day wouldn't be one long migraine. With that, she pulls herself up into the rover and makes her way across town before the rain starts to pick up.

When she slides her white coat on and makes her way into the intensive unit she notices the quiet stillness, with only some regular beeping coming from a few occupied beds. Clarke is stunned at how quiet this hospital can be at times. It is so jarring compared to the constant commotion at Sibley, it could get frankly overstimulating if you were stuck in the wing too long. Clarke spends the rest of the morning scrutinizing everyone's chart and taking notes on what scans she'd like to order for a select few patients she's worried about. The hours pass with ease, and she sees Ontari shuffle around the wing, mostly ignoring Clarke except for a few glances here and there. When Clarke realizes it's close to 3 o'clock she sets down her files and finds Ontari in one of the back closets, grabbing some gauze to assist a nurse in changing some bandages in the fifth bed. 

"Yeah?" Ontari says when the door swings open. When she sees it's Clarke her shoulders turn in, just slightly. 

"You've been here since 9," Clarke says quickly, "You want to head to lunch?"

"Well if that's alright with _**you**_ ," Ontari says sarcastically, and Clarke gets the impression she's not winning herself any points with her, no matter what she does.

Ontari passes her the gauze and goes to make her way towards the exit of the wing without another word.

Clarke makes quick work of changing out the bandages and thinks of Octavia as she's wrapping. When she's done she walks to the nurse's station to check her phone. She opens her messages and sees a picture of Wells drinking with Sasha, he looks goofy and dumb, but happy enough. Clarke sends him some emojis shaking their heads, and then closes out. Clarke types in the number from the business card Octavia gave her and then spends 10 minutes trying to think of a message that's cool enough for Octavia. She settles for self-deprecating and then hits send.

> Clarke (3:17): Thanks for kicking my ass earlier... somebody had to do it. 
> 
> Octavia (3:19): Griffin! Just let me know when you want Round 2!!! ;)
> 
> Clarke laughs out loud, startling herself, and types back.
> 
> Clarke (3:20): I can't handle another whoopin' like that for a while
> 
> I would probably fall apart like Mr. Potato Head
> 
> Octavia (3:22): Hahaha, now that I'd have to see.
> 
> Octavia (3:22): Well since kickboxing is out :( wanna do
> 
> something that won't end with your spontaneous combustion?
> 
> Clarke (3:23): For sure, what did you have in mind? :P
> 
> Octavia (3:24): Just meet me at the gym when you get off at 7!!! 

Clarke is about to type back her objection when the doors swing open and Ontari stalks back in and start harassing Pascal over by the nurses' station about the way she folds the sheets. Clarke huffs, vaguely annoyed, and pockets her phone. Clarke makes her way to the nurses' station to help Pascal, which she knows will only irritate Ontari more.

"Completely incompetent" Ontari grumbles as she moves away to go check on a patient. Clarke is relieved to know Pascal doesn't hear her. The sheets looked just fine, just an excuse to keep tensions high in this surprisingly chill wing. Clarke doesn't know why some people have to go out of their way to make this job harder, it's difficult enough, literally having people's lives in your hands. 

The rest of the afternoon goes by without a hitch as Ontari had to step out to go to a meeting with some ENT specialists out in the annex. Clarke is beyond grateful to have some time with the nurses to just get a good vibe from them. Ontari comes back from her meeting just after 5, which means Clarke is in the home stretch, she turns all of her attention to her work Outlook account and tries to make the minutes pass by quicker, she notices her anxiety is starting to creep up ever so slightly. She rereads the same email for the 4th time, and then she hears Ontari clear her throat passive-aggressively. She looks up in utter shock to see none other than Murphy, the owner from Dropship, standing in the breezeway. He's holding a couple of to-go containers, and he has a sheepish look on his face. 

"Uh, he's with me." Clarke explains quickly looking for her bag, "I'm gonna head to lunch."

Ontari stares past Clarke, scowling at Murphy with some sort of recognition. "Mhmm." is all she says before returning to the book she's reading. Clarke looks again and sees she's reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Clarke nearly snorts as she swings her bag over her shoulder and makes her way to the breezeway where Murphy is looking around taking everything in.

"So they just let any old vagrant in here, huh?" Clarke says, startling him.

"First of all, I'm a delinquent, not a vagrant, and I was here getting my flu shot thank you very much!!" Murphy laughs and pulls up his sleeve to reveal a teenage mutant ninja turtles bandaid on his upper arm. 

Clarke nearly goes into hysterics, laughing until her sides hurt, and it even gives her hiccups when she finally gets herself back under control. She just shakes her head at him.

"Hey, I'm responsible" Murphy shrugs. He's smiling though, it contrasts his moody dark hair and sharp features. 

'Very true" Clarke laughs again, "So you brought lunch to your flu shot appointment?"

"Well, my friend Monroe may have mentioned you were working today, and that you never seem to eat lunch." 

Clarke gasped, mock horrified, "So nosy! Knew I couldn't trust her..." but in truth, Clarke was sort of stunned anyone had really noticed. It made Clarke appreciate Monroe more than she had upon her first meeting with her. 

"Don't blame her" Murphy shakes the bag of fries he's holding " I can be very convincing..."

Clarke grabbed the bag from him and opened it up to snag a few, she was expecting pizza fries, but instead, they were garlicky and cheesy. They make their way to the cafeteria Clarke hasn't been in since she first started on Monday and they sit down with Murphy's take-out boxes. He pulls out a BLT sandwich, a chicken sandwich, and a burger and sets them down in the middle of their bench. 

"I wasn't sure what you'd like so I packed a few things, I'll eat whatever you don't w-" and then Clarke picked up the burger, ending his soliloquy before he could even finish.

"Ha. Jokes on you, my BLTs are better than my burgers" Murphy grabs his sandwich and takes a bite.

"I highly doubt that... this is amazing" Clarke takes a few bites, trying to sus out al the flavors in such a basic looking burger. 

"Any guesses?" Murphy jabs her side as they eat. 

"Oregano... um... provolone? I have no clue dude." 

Murphy smirks, "Yeah, I can tell. It's oregano with sun-dried tomato oil, provolone cheese, spinach, and white pepper. It's a new one I'm trying out."

"You should keep it, it goes really good with the fries too." and she grabs a few fries and holds them up to his and clinks them together like a champagne glass. Murphy gives her a big grin and toasts her back.

"So how has this week been going for you? Any major catastrophes yet?" 

Clarke chews while she thinks, "Nah, everything has been fine. Just trying to figure out how everything works here, it's... very close-knit."

"Yeah, the whole town is like that. We're don't typically welcome newcomers, and there hardly ever are any, most people just pass through. You seem to fit in here though..."

"You think so? I don't really feel like I've ever fit in anywhere." Clarke is shocked at her sudden honesty. She looks up at Murphy to see a soft look on his face, but he hides it when she looks in his eyes.

"Well, I guess that's why we're friends, huh?" Murphy laughs and continues eating his sandwich.

Clarke laughs and does the same, but something about earning the title of friends with John Murphy brightens her day. 

They chat about the hospital and how long Murphy has known most of the staff here, even some funny stories featuring him and the other "delinquents" as he calls them. Clarke can't believe people like Dax and Myles ever made it through school with the way they party. Clarke makes a note to keep an eye on the two boys, especially when they work together in her wing on most nights. The topic of conversation shifts towards other people in town and Clarke brings up her newfound... thing with Octavia. This surprises Murphy and he stops short, holding a fry covered in ketchup up to his mouth.

"Octavia doesn't offer to train just anyone, and typically there's a steep price... You really are special, Griffin." and then he shakes his head incredulously. 

"She's sort of terrifying, but in an admirable way, you know?" Clarke laughs.

"Oh yeah, she could totally kick my ass." Murphy says seriously, "The Blakes are interesting folk."

Clarke laughs, but truly she's a little curious, but she knows Murphy isn't going to give away anything else.

"Guess I'll find out tonight, her and I are going to hang out after work." 

Murphy groans, "Tell her she can't step foot back in my bar until she pays her tab from last time. That girl is gonna drink me out of business!" 

Clarke laughs, "I don't know what she has planned, but I'll try to steer clear of the bar, don't worry."

Murphy seems at peace with that and then they finish their lunch as he continues to debrief her about everyone in town, it stays lighthearted until Clarke asks about Ontari. Murphy doesn't seem keen on talking about her and just says that she has family in high places and to avoid getting on her bad side. Clarke pales as she thinks about all of the passive-aggressive interactions she has had with her all week. Maybe she should make a stronger attempt to get along with her. She thinks she might be able to catch her before she leaves for the day, but when she checks her watch she sees that a little over an hour has passed since Murphy stole her away from the wing.

"Oh shit, I've gotta be getting back!" Clarke rushes to get up and gives him a side hug as she makes her way to the hall.

"Of course, your holiness has people to save, hands to shake, babies to kiss, yadda yadda" Murphy jokes.

"Thank you so much for lunch, you're a lifesaver, Murphy!"

"It's what I do." and he half bows as he picks up their trays and heads the opposite direction towards the main exit. 

Clarke jogs down the narrow corridors and ends up in Oncology by mistake. Maya gives her a confused wave and Clarke smiles and waves back as she turns back around and heads down the maze to the right side, and then she finally ends up in Intensive Care. As she bursts in Pascal is updating someone's chart at the nurses' station. She looks up and smiles when she sees Clarke, "Hey, ding dong the witch is dead, right?" Clarke laughs nervously and looks around for the witch herself. Pascal reaches across the desk and hands Clarke a note, "She left this for you, Clarke."

Clarke picks up the note, written on formal Summit Pacific stationary:

_Dr. Griffin,_

_Couldn’t wait for you forever so I am going home. Davies in room 3 needs an updated triage plan, and you need to complete all the charts before shift change at 7. Next time let someone know you’re going to bail and take a long lunch._

Clarke sighs, this definitely wasn't a good impression to make with somebody who has vast connections in this town, especially someone she has to work with almost every day. Clarke balls up the note and tosses it out. She looks over to see that Myles and Pascal have already updated all the charts, so all she has to do is check in on Davies before she leaves for the day. She makes quick work of his files and lets Davie's know he's headed in for scans first thing in the morning. She thanks her two nurses for all of their hard work, as she surely would have been here all night updating all the charts on her own.

Clarke grabs her purse and heads for the door. Right before she walks out the door she looks over to the front desk and shoots Monroe a truly fearsome look. Monroe shrugs her shoulders and smirks, obviously not threatened. That should annoy her, but Clarke is actually glad Murphy stopped by today, whether Monroe betrayed her or not.

The ride is short and luckily not rainy, so Clarke can cruise home with no delay. She parks and climbs the stairs in double time. She unlocks the door and rushes inside, heading straight to the closet in her bedroom. She rummages through it until she finds a nice grey shirt to throw on over some jeans. She has no idea what Octavia has in mind, she just hopes it's not any more martial arts, Clarke is fucking exhausted, and probably bruised. She laughs when she remembers how pitifully she had fought this morning, but she liked the idea of working up to be even a tenth of the fighter Octavia is. After she laces up her converse she grabs her keys and bag and rushes back outside. 

Just across the street, she can see the lights of the gym overhead, both floors lit up with bright neon signs. Just as she approaches the double doors Octavia pulls them open, grinning widely. 

"Hey!" she says pulling Clarke inside. Clarke looks her over and sees that Octavia went for a black crop top, with jeans and sneakers too. Wherever they're going Clarke doesn't have to worry about being underdressed at least. 

"You look great," Clarke says grinning back "Now where are we headed? The suspense is killing me!"

Octavia snickers and checks the time on her phone, "Well, if we leave now we'll be right on time."

Clarke was starting to feel completely exasperated at all the vagueness. "Where are you taking me!"

"Dude, it's a Friday night, what would you rather be doing? Laying on the couch watching the History channel?" Octavia taunts.

Clarke thinks for a minute, "Actually..."

Octavia gags, "Jesus, you sound like my brother, lets go!"

Clarke laughs, even though she doesn't really get it, just like she doesn't 'get' anything with Octavia really. She follows Octavia out onto the street where she finally spots a dark green Rubicon Jeep.

"Whoa, is this yours? This is sick" Clarke says in awe.

"Yeah, it was Indra's gift to me when I graduated college" Octavia pats the hood before opening the door and gesturing for Clarke to climb in on the other side.

Clarke climbs in and sees the Jeep is loaded with all sorts of cool off-roading gear, carabiner clips swinging around as Octavia powers up the Jeep and rolls out onto the main road out of town. Octavia rides with the windows down, and the car blasting with upbeat indie music. Clarke has heard a few of the songs that play on shuffle, but she's more wrapped up in the way the road carves through such a beautiful evergreen forest and how the moonlight begins to peek through the tall trees onto the road ahead. After about 15 minutes Octavia turns down the music and looks at Clarke expectantly.

"You aren't going to keep asking me where we're going?" Octavia jokes wiggling her eyebrows.

"I've accepted that I'm being kidnapped actually" Clarke sighs theatrically and then fiddles with her bag.

"Have you ever heard of Dirty Art Club?" Octavia says ominously.

"Uh... is it a club?" Clarke tries weakly, she thinks it sounds sketchy, and maybe she shouldn't have just jumped in the car with someone that is basically a stranger with no exit in mind, For some reason though, the panic never reaches her, she feels totally at ease with this mercurial woman who is laughing wolfishly at Clarke's dumbass comment. "What?!" Clarke demands, "I was using context clues!"

Octavia snorts, "Yep, detective Griffin on the case." She looks over at Clarke to see her very not amused expression. "Okay, okay, it's a band. They're pretty good, they're playing a show in Olympia tonight. Even if you don't like them we can still just get drunk and dance, y'know?" and Octavia is grinning and looking at Clarke hopefully.

"Hell yeah!" Clarke says enthusiastically, truthfully she's a little nervous, but glad she came along. "I'm just glad I have off work tomorrow," she thinks out loud. Octavia looks over with a mischievous glint in her eye but says nothing. 

Before long the trees start to thin out and the roads become well lit and packed with buildings again. Downtown Olympia is charming and swamped with people crowding the sidewalks, moving in all directions headed towards their own Friday night plans. Clarke gets more and more eager the longer they weave through the city streets. Finally, Octavia pulls the jeep up to a parking garage and they slide out. Clarke sneaks to the side and pays the parking meter before Octavia can notice, and Octavia swats Clarke with her purse as they walk out of the garage and across the street to the venue.

She pictured a dive bar, but the venue looks like an abandoned factory with a large stage at the back and two small bars on the sides, it's standing room only, but the place isn't packed quite yet, so Clarke thinks it'll end up being more dance floor than mosh pit. After they buy their tickets Octavia drags Clarke through the crowd to the bar and orders them vodka sodas. Clarke doesn't mind it but also orders a whiskey sour, she feels like letting loose. Octavia cheers approvingly, and they walk away from the bar with their drinks. The stage is surrounded, but Octavia manages to weave up into the fourth row.

Clarke sips her drink as she chats with Octavia, they missed the opener, and they're waiting for the headliners to set up and start. Octavia is just as tenacious when she's drunk, and she laughs loud and brash when Clarke jokes with her about her fitness routine back in D.C. Octavia admits she hasn't always been ripped and used to be sort of a dork before she found boxing. Clarke can hardly believe it, but asks her how she ended up in martial arts in the first place. Octavia explains that her brother insisted Octavia learn about self-defense in _middle school_ , Clarke laughs and tries to imagine a tiny Octavia throwing a mean right hook.

After that their conversation drifts towards their favorite music, and Clarke is psyched to learn they like a lot of the same stuff, especially Melody's Echo Chamber, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and even obscure stuff like Future Islands and Inner Wave. Clarke frankly can't believe she has never heard of the band they're seeing, and she's unbelievably grateful Octavia thought of asking her to come without knowing her super well.

Just then, the lights go out, and the crowd, a little more packed than Clarke had seen earlier, erupts in cheers and claps. Clarke polishes off the rest of her drink and tosses the plastic cup out, Octavia pulls her up as the band introduces themselves and goes into their first song straight away. Octavia is an extremely good dancer, of course, and sways and twirls all around Clarke. Clarke can swing her hips a bit, but has never really been super coordinated when it came to things like that. She just tries to relax and feel the music but also keep up with Octavia. Those two drinks start to hit her all at once and she revels in the smooth feeling and the heat in her cheeks.

The songs pass quickly and by the middle of the show Clarke is really letting loose, she and Octavia have figured out some sort of bump and jive, and a small group has welcomed them into their little dancing circle. Octavia recognizes one of the girls as somebody from town named Harper, and Clarke is shocked to find she works at the hospital too. She's a good dancer, but not as good as Octavia, so she and Clarke stick together for a while.

After a few more songs, Clarke steps away and heads to the bar for more drinks, and then the band introduces their next and last song, Daysleeper, and the crowd goes nuts, Clarke walks back to the group with a few drinks for her, Octavia and Harper just as the song starts and they down them quick to get back to dancing. This song hits different, and Clarke can feel herself really starting to vibe with the beat, and she and Octavia go back to their swaying; towards the end of the song the lead guitarist looks down at their group and shoots them a dashing smile, Harper looks like she could literally pass out.

Right then, Clarke puts this night down as one of the best in her life, and she tries to savor it while it lasts. After the band leaves the stage the group disperses, and Harper and Clarke swap numbers and promise to see each other soon. Octavia downs a few more drinks, and calls for a ride since she is getting absolutely plastered at this point. Clarke sips her drink and tries to keep her head in the game. The bar starts to clear out, but the energy is still bubbly and exhilarating, her and Octavia talk about the show while Octavia waits in line for the merch table.

Just as Octavia grabs her band shirt Clarke turns and sees a tall brutish man with a nearly shaved head, he's menacing and his wide shoulders seem to take up the entire doorway he's standing in. He's staring right at Octavia and Clarke nudges her arm to get her attention. Octavia spins around clumsily and sees the man immediately, a huge grin spreads across her face and she stumbles towards him and then leans up to kiss him. Clarke stands firmly in place, shocked. After their short reunion Octavia turns around and sees Clarke still standing by the merch table and she laughs, she comes back and pulls Clarke to the door.

"Dude, this is my boyfriend Lincoln" Octavia gestures between Clarke and the giant at the door, "Sorry I forgot to mention it, he's our ride home"

Clarke shakes her head, exasperated, "I thought he was about to snap you in half" Clarke murmurs. Octavia cackles and then she throws her arm around Clarke's shoulder and they make their way outside into the chilly night. The roads are desolate at this point and Lincoln disappears to pull the Jeep up to the curb, and a motorcycle is now attached to the back. They climb in and Octavia sits in the back with Clarke as she continues to talk about the show excitedly to Lincoln. He nods and listens intently, and Clarke even sees him smile through the rearview mirror at Octavia. Clarke thinks the way he looks at her is sweet, and he obviously cares for her a great deal if he drove across town just to pick their drunk asses up. 

The closer they get to Elma, the more groggy Clarke gets, she's sure to have a hangover tomorrow, and she makes a mental note to take some Gatorade and aspirin to bed with her. Octavia nudges Clarke and breaks the brief silence in the car, "So what are you doing tomorrow? You're off right?"

"Yeah," Clarke says and then yawns, "I was just going to chill, maybe work on the apartment some more..."

"Wanna hang with me instead?" Octavia says excitedly, "It'll be chill this time, I promise. We'll just bake and watch movies all day."

Clarke feels excited, but remembers how much of a mess her apartment is, she's in the middle of assembling a kitchen table from IKEA and she's got tarp everywhere for painting.

"Can we do it at your place?" Clarke asks sheepishly.

"Hell yeah, we can stop by the market tomorrow and pick stuff up before you come up to my place, I live up the mountain, north of Elma, it's not far."

They spend the rest of the drive into town arguing over what movie to watch, and they settle on Heathers, it has been years since Clarke saw it, and Octavia has somehow never seen it. Octavia starts to make a game plan for the store tomorrow, but she's starting to become unintelligible. Clarke laughs as she slurs and continues to argue with Clarke between cupcakes and cookies. Clarke meets Lincoln's eye and he doesn't look as menacing as he did in the bar, now he just seems content, and he's smirking at Octavia still.

They come down the street passing the hospital and into downtown, and Octavia promises to call her in the morning, once she's slept off all the vodka. Clarke rolls her eyes and says she can sleep in if she'd like. She waves to Lincoln as she gets out of the Jeep in the back lot behind the cafe, and she's surprised he doesn't drive away immediately, he parks and waits for her to get upstairs and into the apartment safely. She peeks through the window and sees him drive off uptown, probably to drop Octavia at home. 

With the remainder of her energy, she slips on some pajama pants and tries to drink as much Gatorade as she can stomach. She plops down in bed and turns on Parks and Rec so she can get comfy, her phone pings and she sees a text from an unknown number, but it's just Harper asking if Clarke got home o.k. She smiles and shoots back a quick text and then tries to settle in for bed, with the songs from earlier still swirling around in her head. The promise of an exciting tomorrow is the last thing on her mind as she drifts off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?! I love Happy Clarke™ and will do my best to give her plenty of good times sprinkled in with the tough times, that's what life is all about!
> 
> Also, all of my chapter names are based on a playlist I made that is inspired by Bellarke :) I'm a huge fan of indie rock, and I feel like it's very 20s Clarke too. You can listen here if that's your kind of thing: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/29CYLP68YG2CtSoXtSKx50?si=EFdosoniQ0mAI9o9Ei4Eiw&utm_source=copy-link
> 
> Leave a comment or kudos to tell me to get my ass in gear and finish the next chapter already, it's gonna be a long one!


	4. Impressions of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> World's collide as Octavia brings Clarke over to the house for the first time to a chilly reception from Bellamy. Clarke wonders if her newfound rivalry will tear apart everything she has built in Elma so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> It's finally here... this chapter is the one that inspired me to write this fic in the first place. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

It's 10 a.m. when Clarke awakens to deafening ringing, and it might just be the worst noise Clarke has ever heard. She shuffles around throwing blankets aside and she slams the snooze button on the alarm clock on her bedside table. She stirs and stretches, feeling her arms and legs still stiff and sore from yesterdays sparring with Octavia. That makes Clarke remember to check her phone, which is nearly dead since she neglected to plug it in last night. There aren't any texts from Octavia and it makes her chuckle, thinking of how delirious she was at the end of last night.

After she stands and stretches again, she leans down to drink the rest of her water and take another aspirin. Her headache isn't too bad, and she thinks it'll probably clear after she fries up some eggs. Her stomach growls impatiently and she realizes the last time she ate was with Murphy yesterday. Clarke needs to start making food a priority, starting with breakfast and coffee. Clarke isn't sure she feels like cooking, so she puts on some slip-on sandals and steps outside, scurrying down the stairs and around the building to step into Luna's Cafe. 

The girl behind the counter looks no older than 16 and she's fumbling with the espresso machine, trying to clean out the grounds. Clarke walks up and tries to pick out what she wants from the vast menu. The girl looks up and stops cleaning immediately to take Clarke's order. She ends up going for eggs sunny side up with bacon and toast with her usual iced coffee. As soon as she pays and pockets her receipt she hears Luna come out from the back, talking to the girl at the counter.

"I've got it, Adria, just go back to cleaning in the back" Luna smiles as she turns to Clarke, taking in her messy waves and pajamas. 

"Uh, do you work every day?" Clarke inspects Luna's face to check for any signs of stress or being overworked.

"Nah, I'm just here to drop off some new mugs and plates I ordered." Luna shows off the new cups with little ivy painted on the side. "Catching you was just a nice surprise." Luna smiles and seems genuinely happy to see her.

"Those look great Luna, this place is so comfy and the amazing food definitely doesn't hurt."

Luna waves her hand dismissively and begins to brew the coffee, after a moment she pours the coffee over ice and hands one of the new mugs over to Clarke. When she takes a sip she notices a hint of cinnamon, and she thanks Luna as she's getting started on the eggs and toast. Clarke and Luna make idle conversation about her first week at Summit Pacific and all about how much she is loving Elma so far, especially the time she has spent with Octavia. Luna laughs and tells her that Octavia has always had that... spunk.

Octavia is such a free spirit it just feels infectious to the people around her, and Luna explains to Clarke that she's always been that way, even as a little girl. Luna says it was a headache for her brother while they were growing up. Clarke is confused by the comment but decides to ask Octavia about it later. She checks her phone and still hasn't received a message yet, so she shoots Octavia a quick text, checking to see if she's surviving her wicked hangover.

Luna walks around the counter and sets down a plate filled with eggs, buttered up toast, and crispy bacon. It's a feast perfect for soothing her mild headache and dry mouth. She thanks Luna profusely and starts digging into her breakfast. The girl, Adria, hovers around and smiles at Clarke periodically as she wipes down nearby tables. Luna stops to chat with Adria for a bit and then waves to Clarke before she leaves. 

Clarke finishes up her food in silence until she hears a ping from her phone and sees it's Octavia, finally waking up.

> Octavia (10:34): Sorry, ya girl needed her beauty sleep. I'm up now, wanna meet in an hour? 
> 
> Clarke (10:35): How are you even functional right now? I'm exhausted lol... Meet me at my place, and drink some water!
> 
> Octavia (10:35): Loud and clear, Dr. Griffin :P

As Clarke goes to leave the cafe she downs the rest of her coffee and leaves a ten-dollar bill in the tip cup, Adria's eyes light up when she sees it and she thanks Clarke over and over again. Clarke just laughs and tells her it's no problem. Adria seems like a good kid, and if she's gonna spend her weekend working, she should at least make some real money. 

Downtown is starting to perk up, and there are tons of people crowding the sidewalks on both sides of the buildings, Clarke realizes she's still in her pajamas and sandals, so she books it back behind the building and back up to her flat upstairs. She steps inside and inspects the mess of renovation supplies that are strewn about her living room. How embarrassing she thinks, and then she hurries to pile them all into a leftover moving box to get them out of the way at least. She wished the place looked a little more presentable, but there's nothing major she can do in under an hour.

The shower kicks on and heats immediately, a blessing for Clarke. She rushes to wash her hair and exfoliate a little, when she hops out she inspects her closet and picks out her favorite dark blue blouse, and some basic black jeans and flats. She pins some of her hair back and lets the rest cascade down her shoulders. At the last moment, she swipes a little bit of eye shadow on and some nude lipstick. She doesn't know why she's so nervous, she just feels like Octavia might realize she's sort of lame after all, and this will all have been for nothing.

She checks her phone and decides to pester Wells, even though he won't be up for another few hours, the time delay always gets her mixed up. She plays the next round of their 8-ball game and then shoots him a text asking how his internship has been going. She exits their chat and she can see a text from her Mom sitting unanswered at the bottom of her inbox, she sighs and then types out a generic "I'm doing fine, don't worry about me" answer and promises to call soon. It alleviates a little bit of the stress that has been building since the beginning of the week. She scrolls through Instagram until it gets closer to 11:15 and she starts to fidget with her watch, it was her father's and it's one of the few things she has of his. 

Clarke cleans up her kitchen a little and hopes Octavia doesn't think she's a slob. She finishes building the kitchen table, and then puts a few plants and a candle in the center, it looks pretty classy Clarke hopes, or maybe it just looks fake and like she's trying too hard. She pinches the bridge of her nose and tries to stop overthinking things, she sounds neurotic, even to herself. Just then, there's a knock at the door, and Clarke jumps, startled out of her ridiculous inner monologue.

She opens the door to see a grungy Octavia, wearing track pants, a hoodie, and some basic sneakers. Clarke immediately thinks she shouldn't have gone so dressy, she doesn't know what she was thinking. Octavia just smiles and barges in, not waiting for an invitation.

"How do you manage to look so good after a night like that?" Octavia groans.

"Hey! You'd look good in a burlap sack, okay?" Clarke fires back, and she nods at Octavia, gesturing to her outfit. 

Octavia just laughs and then takes a look around the living room, zeroing in on Clarke's paintings almost immediately.

"Whoa... who painted these?" Octavia steps forward and starts closely scrutinizing a painting of Lake Gaston that she painted a few years ago. "These are amazing."

Clarke shrugs, "I did. I like to paint with my free time."

Octavia looks over at her incredulously, "I can't believe it, renowned doctor AND artist, you're the ultimate package."

Clarke snorts and looks away from the painting, focusing on Octavia's eye line as she admires all the other canvases on the back wall. "They're ok, it's just a hobby."

Octavia doesn't seem convinced and continues looking at all the landscapes with a stunned look on her face, "This isn't hobby level work, Clarke."

Clarke blushes and tries to busy herself by fidgeting with her purse, the zipper has broken off but she refuses to buy a new one. "Yeah whatever, let's go."

Octavia snorts but doesn't call her out for deflecting. They step outside onto the landing and Clarke locks the door quickly before they make their way down to Octavia's Rubicon, it looks even more sleek and impressive in the daylight. Clarke grabs onto one of the beams and tugs herself inside, but Octavia removed the doors from last night, leaving it as an open shell. Clarke is eternally glad she pinned her hair back some, even though the drive to the town market is short, she remembers Octavia mentioned there would be a little drive to her place.

They make their way down to the store Clarke stopped in on Monday night and Octavia stomps in with a mission. She stalks through the aisles, snapping up ingredients and piling up the handbasket. Clarke doesn't know when they settled on double chocolate, but she doesn't mind and doesn't want to cross paths with a hungry and feral Octavia. Just then, Octavia swings around and looks Clarke dead in the eyes.  
  
"Pumpkin spice, yay or nay," she says narrowing her gaze. Clarke stares right back, not backing away.

"Hell yeah," she says and reaches for the box of pumpkin muffin mix on the shelf next to Octavia who is still inspecting Clarke carefully.

"Knew I liked you, Griffin" she laughs, breaking her serious facade. Clarke laughs easily too but is sort of glad she's never been on the receiving end of Intense Octavia™.

They walk through the aisles and pick out cider and some fresh fruit to snack on while they bake. While they walk the aisles the few customers they pass nod respectfully at Octavia and eye Clarke curiously. Octavia seems like a local celebrity, or maybe it's just small-town vibes, but Octavia doesn't seem to notice. She nods back at a few, but simply makes her way from section to section, piling up the basket with baking supplies. Then they step up to the register and Octavia starts sorting the stuff out into neat little piles. Clarke tries to sneak her credit card in but Octavia blocks the path, creating a human shield around the card reader, and pays first.

Clarke sighs and steps away, "I owe ya one, Octavia, for this and the ass-kicking lessons."

"Pay me in progress, I wanna see you do a head kick by the time your birthday rolls around," Octavia smirks and looks over at Clarke, and she smiles even wider when she sees the alarmed look cross over her face. 

"You're insane," Clarke says as she grabs a handful of groceries to walk out to the Jeep. Octavia straps them all into the back and they swing back in and head back down the main streets, passing Clarke's flat again. Clarke thinks back to last night when Octavia said her place was a little outside of Elma, she wonders what to expect. 

"How far out into the sticks are you?" Clarke says as she plugs her phone into the aux and puts on Mitski but low volume so they can still chat.

Octavia nods her head to the music and glances at Clarke as she drives up the hills to the north of town. "Not bad, fifteen minutes north of Elma, I live right next to Arrowhead Lake."

"Are we gonna get mauled by bears on the way up there?" Clarke asks with mock anxiety.

Octavia laughs harshly and shakes her head. "Nah, it's super civilized, we've got two acres to ourselves, we don't see a ton of wildlife except for pests that get into the garden. No bears... unfortunately."

Clarke smirks, "A garden? Didn't picture you for a farmer." 

"Nah, it's not mine. Bellamy takes care of the place, for the most part, he and his friends fixed the place up when Bell bought it like 10 years ago."

"10 years ago? How much older is he than you?" Clarke asks, confused.

"Uh, he's almost 4 years older, so he'll be 30 next year," Octavia says nonchalantly.

"Whoa, owning a house at 20? It's a millennial's dream" Clarke jokes.

Octavia shrugs, "We're a little... unconventional." is all she says.

Clarke wants to ask more, but the subject seems a little sensitive, so she tries for something more positive. 

"Are we gonna have the space to bake all these muffins and cupcakes?" Clarke tries.

Octavia grins, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna break out my easy bake oven and everything."

"Oh my god, I remember making mac and cheese in mine! It was amazing!" Clarke laughs hysterically.

"They were the shit, I used to try to make stuff from scratch, Bellamy was my recipe test dummy, he... endured it." Octavia smiles wickedly.

Clarke laughs, imagining Octavia on Hell's Kitchen, "I'm gonna go ahead and pray your cooking skills are significantly better now, for my sake."

Octavia scoffs, "Hey, it takes two to tango, what are you bringing to the table?"

Clarke shrugs and looks over nervously, "Moral support?"

They both burst into simultaneous laughter and Clarke laughs until her sides hurt, it's still a new and foreign feeling. When they finally quiet down Clarke notices the roads have started to shift to country backroads, all headed up the hills to the north. The trees are getting taller and denser, and she looks out of the pocket window to inspect the forest as it blurs past. Octavia hums to the music as she drives, easily maneuvering through the windy paths, but she doesn't interrupt Clarke as she takes in the forest as the moss begins to overtake more and more of the trees around them. Clarke is submerged in the green, she finally understands what people meant about the Olympic National Forest, it does look like an alien planet, but she absolutely loves it. More than once she thinks she sees Octavia check on her inconspicuously, but she grins every time she sees the look of wonder on Clarke's face. 

After a few more minutes the lake comes into view, and Clarke sees it has a little community center and a long dock for fishing and small boats. It's very quaint, and the outside of the buildings are surrounded by covered pergolas and tons of benches, it has an 80's summer camp vibe. Then, Octavia turns left onto a private road and Clarke loses sight of the lake altogether.

She turns and looks straight on to see a stone path with beautiful Sitka spruce trees on either side, the road winds to the right, and Clarke takes in the beautiful native berry bushes that line the sides of the path leading up to the house, more specifically the giant wrap around porch out front. Octavia pulls the Jeep around to the right of the house and Clarke can see an industrial garage off in the distance as well as a smaller shed. Turning her attention back to the house, she gapes in wonder. It's a tall dark wooden A-Frame with a stone chimney on the side closest to her, and steady streams of smoke waft out from the top. The porch is packed with patio furniture and large outdoor dining set in the middle, string lights zig-zag between the Sitka trees, and frame the front and sides of the house. The entire place is picturesque, it feels like it was cut right out of a Disney movie. Clarke itches for her paint, she wishes she could capture the way the house seems to blend with its environment, looking whole and in harmony with nature all around, even the delicate ivy weaves its way around the window ledges and the chimney perfectly.

Octavia just leaps out of the rover as if Snow White's wonderland is the most mundane thing on Earth. She walks to the back of the Jeep and starts grabbing as many groceries as she can carry. Clarke stumbles out of the Jeep to help and grabs a few bags. She walks carefully up the steps to the porch as she admires the big bay window on the side, it's framed with more ivy and a large planter full of wildflowers. Octavia reaches the door but is carrying too many bags to fumble with her keys, she grunts in frustration and knocks on the door with her foot.

"Bell! Open up! I can't reach my key." Octavia shouts at the door. There's no response and Octavia begins to set down the bags so she can wrestle with her keys, but the door bolt unlatches and it opens abruptly. Octavia barges in immediately and walks into the house leaving Clarke on the porch.

"Would it kill you to make two trips, O?" a low voice says, mildly amused.

Clarke hears Octavia laugh as she steps up, a foot or two from the door, but she doesn't catch whatever Octavia says next. Everything happens in what Clarke can only describe as slow motion. She looks away from the bay window to the sound of Octavia's voice in the house, she stops dead in her tracks as she takes in the man standing in the doorframe. Clarke's mind stops completely, her throat tightens up, and her entire body feels electrified, leaving her locked in place. She stands rigid, gazing up directly into his eyes. Bellamy stares back down, seemingly paralyzed as well, he zeroes in on her eyes and stares unabashedly back at her. She studies the way his brown eyes shimmer like waves from honey brown to dark spruce like the trees surrounding the house. To top it all off, freckles dot his face like perfect constellations and Clarke drags her eyes down to his lips studying the curve of his lower and upper lip, and the stubble that surrounds them, she feels his gaze again and looks up to see a completely blank expression on his face, but his eyes are darting around studying her just the same.

Clarke can hear a buzzing in her ear, and somewhere deep in her mind, she knows it's Octavia, still talking, completely unaware of the stalemate occurring behind her. She can't grasp any of the words, they slide right through and she just gazes, absolutely entranced by the strange connection that has bridged between them, she honestly felt like time itself might bend under the pressure of their shared gaze. Her hands twitch at her side, restless but unsure of anything and everything. Right as she decides to move, she catches sight of Octavia, now standing in the doorway looking between her and Bellamy. The trance seems to shatter immediately and Bellamy looks like he has swallowed a carton of spoiled milk, he squints and looks away quickly, looking down at Octavia instead.

"Bell? I told you Clarke was coming over, wanna be a good host and let her in?" Octavia laughs, clearly not seeing the energy around her has shifted completely.

Octavia leans over and gestures for Clarke to hand over the bags and follow her inside. Clarke regains her composure right on time and follows, narrowly missing Bellamy in the doorway, but she still feels as if she was shocked, like a taser on it's lowest setting. Her mind is slowly returning and she uses all her energy to focus on Octavia, but she's impossibly aware of the man standing less than 10 feet away, as he finally shuts the door and turns to come up to the kitchen island, which is even closer.

"So you're _Clarke_ then?" he says slowly, and the sound of his voice... and her name... sends a chill up her spine. 

Clarke stammers awkwardly as she tries to think of something normal to say, "Uh-uhm, yep. So you must be Bellamy, Octavia told me all about you." and she sees in his eyes they cycle through emotions, starting with a sort of reverence and ending with contempt.

"All about me?" he questions and then laughs bitterly. Octavia looks up from putting away groceries and gives him a warning look.

"Oh, just about the house, it's absolutely incredible." Clarke tries again, letting her sincerity bleed through.

Bellamy narrows his eyes further and he crosses his arms, "Yeah? Figured it wouldn't be up to your... standards." he says coldly.

Clarke stutters but Octavia cuts her off, "Bell, shut up, you're being beyond dumb, go do a crossword puzzle or something." and then Octavia stares him down until he backs away with a hand up.

When he finally exits down the hall, Clarke breathes and realizes her head has been swimming this entire time, she takes a steadying breath and looks to Octavia who is still rummaging around in the cabinets looking for muffin tins. She doesn't look up but sighs, "Don't worry about him, he's an idiot."

"Did I... do something?" Clarke says, trying not to let her vulnerability show in her voice or on her face.

Octavia looks up at her suddenly, "God no, my brother is just stubborn sometimes, he means well." Octavia squeezes her arm reassuringly, but Clarke just hopes she can't feel all the goosebumps that are just beginning to fade. Clarke smiles weakly and tries to recover her good mood from earlier. Luckily, Octavia is animated and unbelievably hyped about cupcakes so it's easy to get wrapped up in her excitement. They spend 45 minutes measuring (and eyeballing) the recipes for all the food, and then start mixing, making a huge mess all around. Octavia manages to dig out some aprons, and tosses on to Clarke, it's just a simple black one, but it'll keep her nice blue shirt clean. Octavia throws her on, and Clarke genuinely laughs when she sees it's one of those cringy "Kiss the Cook" ones, with little lipstick marks scattered all over. Octavia rocks it as she ties her hair up in a bun and gets to mixing the batter and pouring it into the decorative cupcake wrappers Octavia picked out this morning. 

Twenty minutes later they've got everything popped into the oven, and they set to cleaning up the kitchen. Clarke washes dishes while Octavia wipes down the counters, it's a little cramped but all the appliances look basically brand new and the countertops are solid butcher blocks, the place has a chic lumberjack aesthetic that Clarke thinks meshes excellently. The open floor plan to the living room is really nice too, and Clarke tries to imagine what this place would have looked like before it was fixed up, it looks perfect how it is. That makes Clarke remember Bellamy's comment from earlier, and it starts to gnaw away at the back of her mind. She tries to file it away for later and just work on enjoying the moment, but it's one of those things she can't shake once it has taken root.

She finishes her last dish and turns to see Octavia a couple of feet away, already done, and she's setting up the living room for them to watch something while they wait for everything to bake. Clarke takes the chips and then reaches into the fridge to grab the fruit they bought earlier and then walks around the kitchen island to reach the large sectional couch in the very center. Clarke sets everything down on the coffee table and then eyes the rest of the room. The TV is mounted high on the slanted wall and speakers sitting on either side. Underneath all that, there's a long mid-century style media console that holds the largest collection of vinyl Clarke has ever seen. Everything looks to be in alright condition and she sees they've even been filed alphabetically, she leans down and pulls out Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan and it stares at it in wonder. 

"Is this yours?" Clarke asks incredulously.

Octavia stops flicking through Netflix and looks over, "Nah, that's Bellamy's. He looks around for vinyl he likes at thrift stores and estate sales and things like that, it's like a challenge to him. He knows every single vinyl he has down there, it's nuts" she says gesturing to the shelf of probably 150 different discs.

Clarke just nods appreciatively and goes to put it back in its place. On top of the console table is a nice vintage record player and some decorative plants and a couple of framed photos of Octavia and Bellamy through the years, she can't look too long before her stomach flips and twists uncomfortably at the sight of him.

Clarke is so confused by how meeting a complete stranger could have her mind worked up so much. She imagines Octavia having to pick between them, and how devastating it would be to lose a friend here, especially since she doesn't really know anyone else super well. Something snaps her out of her negative thought pattern and back into the present, Clarke eyes the black wingback chair on the right side, it looks comfy and it has a blanket draped over the back. Octavia is setting up the sectional couch and there's one smaller midcentury sofa on the right side, but it doesn't look quite as comfy. She pulls the blanket off and settles in, and the chair is heavenly, she sinks right in and it molds all around her, and she pulls up the footrest so she can sink down farther, achieving levels of comfy previously thought impossible. The best thing of all is the smell, it wafted all around her and it smelled like the woods after a thunderstorm, mixed with a tiny bit of smoke from the chimney, it was intoxicating, and she buried her face in the blanket and the chair to commit the smell to memory. It calmed some sort of anxiety that had drilled its way deep down into her subconscious, and she felt a tiny bit of pressure lift off of her ever so slightly, like it had been chipped away. Clarke took an easy breath, she couldn't remember the last time it had felt so free. 

It was short-lived though because then she heard the heavy footsteps reverberating down the hallway and she could already feel his intensity in the air. Clarke turned, expecting to find a mildly annoyed Bellamy, but instead, he looked simply shocked again. His eyes shot between her and the blanket she was wrapped around. Octavia began to laugh, but she didn't seem worried about some kind of outburst, so Clarke smiled sheepishly back at Octavia. 

Bellamy ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly and looked down at Clarke, but she almost thought he didn't look as angry as before. He squared his shoulders and shook his head slightly, "So you just had to take _my_ chair?"

Clarke freezes, looking down at herself in the chair and at the blanket pulled up against her chest. She wants to disappear completely, but Octavia steps up again and laughs it off. 

"You're so territorial, Bell. It's just a chair." Octavia groans. Bellamy turns to chastise her and Clarke takes that opportunity to leap up and make her way to the small midcentury sofa on the other side of the room.

"Happy now?" she says resentfully. Bellamy finds her eyes across the room and hums disapprovingly. He walks over and grabs the book on the side table next to the chair and then turns to head back down the hall muttering about real-life goldilocks and how ridiculous this all is.

Clarke pauses at that moment, watching him walk away, she realizes she recognizes him. He was the stranger in the supermarket earlier that week. She can't believe she didn't see it before. That must be why she's been feeling so strange all day. She wants to laugh when she considers how a few days ago he had unknowingly been the cure for having a near panic attack. Monday felt so far away now, and she couldn't imagine that man ever causing anything _but_ anxiety in her life.

Octavia must sense how Clarke's shoulders slump and she looks down in dismay. So she walks over and throws an arm over her shoulder and tugs her over to the long l shaped couch in the middle of the room. 

"Should I just go?" Clarke asks dejectedly.

"What?! No, dude. The cupcakes are gonna be done soon and we have movies to marathon. Don't mind my brother, he's being an idiot."

Clarke still feels the urge to bolt, but the look of utter conviction in Octavia's eyes is reassuring. Clarke settles into the big sectional couch and pulls up the blanket back to her chin, she inhales and realizes the smell must be Bellamy's as well, but she decides she doesn't care and keeps it bunched up around her. 

Octavia finishes setting up their lounge area and then puts on Heathers. The first 10 minutes Octavia and Clarke spend making idle conversation about how iconic Winona Ryder is and how the design for the movie looks great, and then Octavia is fully immersed, laughing loudly at the funny and beyond embarrassing moments. Clarke hasn't seen it in forever but it feels all new with Octavia's commentary and her infectious laughter. After almost 30 minutes the timer goes off and Clarke jumps up first to go check on the cupcakes, and they look perfect and the faint smell of vanilla lingers in the air.

She sets the two pans on the stove and turns the oven off. They'll have to cool before they can ice them. Clarke skips back over to the couch and settles back in, just as Christian Slater is gearing up to go on a killing spree. Octavia watches silently, popping pieces of popcorn in her mouth during the climax of the movie. She gasps in relief as Winona Ryder's character saves the day in the end, and Octavia hops up as soon as the credits roll. Clarke follows her back into the kitchen and starts readying the icing into the little piping bags. They talk animatedly about the movie and chat about the general vibe in late 80s as they work and it's not long before they have a dozen perfectly iced red and orange cupcakes, they top them with the little candy pumpkins and fall colored sprinkles they picked up at the market and they move back to the couch to eat and chill out.

They spend the next 2 hours chatting about anything and everything as they eat and then Octavia gets out a nail kit, Clarke has never been much for pampering herself, but she kind of likes the idea of them painting each other's nails. Octavia picks out a deep blue for Clarke and Clarke picks out a rich crimson red for Octavia, it matches her usually heavy bold eyeliner, and it complements her goddess vibe she's already got going on. Clarke flicks through her Spotify but still ends up just cycling through her liked songs playlist, but she bobs her head while she shakes up the polish and the clear coat and gets everything set up. Clarke took Octavia's hand delicately and began painting the nails on her left hand. 

Octavia looked up at Clarke mid-way through and scoffed, "Paint me like one of your french girls, ey Griffin?" 

Clarke laughed, covering her mouth with her free hand, "shut up or I'll smudge your middle finger."

Octavia flipped her off theatrically and laughed loudly, "Just look at your brush strokes, it's so... chef kiss," she said pinching her fingers like an Italian chef.

Clarke huffed and shook her head, trying to shake off the compliment. She worked through the rest of Octavia's left hand and all of her right, then they sat back and waited for hers to dry.

* * *

An hour later and the girls are laughing hysterically at an old vine compilation on Youtube while they do face masks. It's sort of the perfect girls day Clarke always wanted, but in high school, all she had was Wells and Glass, and they both refused to step within a mile radius of a Lush store. This was really her first time ever bonding with anybody like this, it made Clarke feel warm inside and out, and she forgot why she had ever felt stressed here in the first place. 

After washing the masks off Clarke was shocked to see Octavia's skin managed to glow somehow more than it had before, it was beyond infuriating. Octavia gawked a Clarke and passed her a little handheld mirror. Clarke peered at herself for a moment and saw she looked flushed from laughing and her features did look softer, it was admittedly a good look on her. She handed the mirror back to Octavia and made her way back to the living room down the hall, but she stopped short when she looked out one of the giant windows that shown out to the backyard. The sun had begun to set a little earlier, and the warm tones had just begun to spread across the sky.

Clarke stepped out onto the back porch to see the vibrant sunset as it retreated behind the tall trees in the backyard. Clarke itched for some watercolors and a canvas to capture the way the oranges and pinks melted together, and she stood in awe as the blue night sky began to take over. She looked to her left and spotted Bellamy who was sitting in one of the patio chairs, gazing upwards as well. Their eyes met for a moment and then darted away and he looked back to the sky, but it almost appeared like he was breathing raggedly. Clarke, suddenly feeling strange, smoothed her shirt down and turned to go back in through the back door to find Octavia. Octavia was finishing up with the dishes, but she grinned widely at Clarke when she shut the door behind her.

"Pretty cool, huh? We've got tons of stuff in the back yard, but that'll be an adventure for another day." Octavia smirked. Clarke busied herself by cleaning up the stove and the countertops, but she couldn't help but notice 2 of the cupcakes had disappeared from earlier. She smirked and felt like she had won some imaginary battle against the frustrating man still lingering outside on the porch. Octavia was scrolling through her phone and then she looked up at Clarke with a brow quirked, "Do you like Chinese food?"

Clarke thought for a moment and then nodded, "haven't found a good place since I moved here but yeah."

Octavia's jaw nearly hit the floor, "oh man you haven't lived until you've had Chinatown Express, just give me a minute" and then she slipped down the hall to the bathroom.

Clarke just laughed, she loved Octavia's spontaneous nature, she could only ride the wave. She put on her shoes and waited by the door, checking her phone for notifications. All she had was a message from Wells asking what she was up to, and congratulations for beating him in 8ball pool. She sent back a meme and turned her phone off as she heard footsteps approaching from the right side of the kitchen, next to the front door, and Clarke realized with dismay that there's no way it could be Octavia.

Bellamy rounded the corner and stopped short when he almost ran into Clarke, the tension in the air felt like it was crackling as it had before when they had first laid eyes on each other. Bellamy folded his arms and sighed, "finally had enough of seeing how the other half lives?"

Clarke shook her head in frustration, "What the hell is your problem?" she demanded. 

Bellamy squared his shoulders and even in the dim light of the hallway, Clarke could see he was glaring down at her. Bellamy scoffed, "People like you don't last, Octavia just doesn't know that yet." 

Clarke was getting sick and tired of all of these assumptions being tossed around, she was more than used to people judging her based on her name, and who her parents were. That shit gets old, and that's the biggest reason she left it all behind in the first place. She looked away from Bellamy and to the windows overlooking the deck and woods surrounding the house. "Look, you don't know a god damn thing about me, so how about you just let Octavia decide for herself, K?" She turned and stared up defiantly at him, but the energy felt all wrong. She didn't really feel rage, she felt... confused.

Bellamy stared back down at her, but he wasn't glaring as he had before, he was just staring into her eyes, looking for something it seemed. Clarke stared back, but she felt sort of transfixed as if she couldn't look away even if she had wanted to. She subconsciously found herself admiring his face, trailing her eyes down from his long eyelashes down to the curve of his lip. She hadn't studied him this close when she had seen him hours before, but now she could see everything up close in detail, especially the freckles she had noticed earlier. Bellamy drew in a breath and then stumbled back a foot or two, and Clarke's eyes snapped back up to his, trying to view behind the curtain and understand what Bellamy was really feeling. He looked away after a moment, seeming to shrug off her gaze and her presence altogether. 

"Whatever," Bellamy said, but he sounded equal parts confused and stressed. He turned and walked down the hall not sparing her another glance, and Clarke felt the weird magnetism leave with him. Before she could delve into the hurricane of emotions swirling tumultuously around in her psyche, Octavia reemerged in a pair of ripped denim jeans and a faded Jack Daniels tee shirt, she slid into her bomber jacket and took her car keys out of the pocket. 

"Ready to rock and roll?" she said cheerfully, not immediately noticing how shaken Clarke was.

Clarke nodded, trying to appear unphased. "Yeah, let's head out." Octavia didn't seem to notice, as she was telling Clarke all about how good the spring rolls are.

Their ride to the restaurant was mostly quiet except for some music playing in the background, but no matter what Clarke did she couldn't stop seeing Bellamy's face every time she shut her eyes. They chatted about their favorite foods and the best places around Elma and Clarke shared some of her favorite hole-in-the-wall places from D.C. Clarke blamed her sudden sadness on the nostalgia from back home and tried not to read too much into it.

"You okay, Griffin?" Octavia asked lightly, quickly looking at Clarke and then back to the road in front of them.

"What? Yeah. I'm just...thinking." Clarke shrugged.

"Well, I'm here man," Octavia said seriously. Though she sounded convincing it did little to ease Clarke's mood, and she decided to just come out with it.

"Did I say something to Bellamy? He really didn't seem to like me much." Clarke frowned.

Octavia chuckled for a moment and shook her head, "Nah don't worry about Bellamy, he's really hard-headed, and he always thinks he knows people based on this macho heart instinct bullshit. He's just weird about meeting new people, you should have seen when I introduced him to Lincoln, I thought he was gonna spontaneously combust."

Clarke grins slightly, but continues, "he just mentioned something about 'how the other half lives' earlier and I don't really know what he meant."

Octavia was silent a moment as she merged onto the highway and shifted over into the left lane, then she scoffed and looked over at Clarke, "he's such an idiot, I told him you were coming over and told him a little bit about you and about how you were a doctor and he seemed to get hung up on that, writing you off as some product of nepotism, I thought he would just get over it by now. Dude, I am so sorry he was such a jerk today."

Clarke's face fell in shame, she couldn't believe people still saw her that way. She felt like no matter what she did she would still always just be Abby Griffin's daughter, even on the opposite side of the country where nobody even knew her. She could never just be herself. It especially hurt to think that Bellamy saw her that way, and she didn't really understand why she cared about his opinion so much. When she closed her eyes, it was like she could still see him standing in front of her, arms crossed, glaring daggers at her.

Octavia must have sensed how much of a psychic blow that was to Clarke because she reached over and squeezed her arm. "Hey, I'm serious, forget him. You're the shit. Griffin." 

Clarke laughed some at Octavia's absurd way of trying to uplift her. Just then they pulled into the strip mall with a few offices and one lone dingy restaurant labeled Chinatown Express. Clarke knew places like this were always a hidden gem, and she smiled widely at Octavia as they both slid out of the car and headed towards the door. Octavia holds it open and Clarke steps in, taking in the shabby little restaurant with silky tapestries strung up on the walls and a couple of other decor pieces. Clarke could smell dumplings and egg rolls deep-frying nearby and everything truly smelled heavenly. As soon as Octavia walked in behind her she gasped audibly and stopped short, looking at one of the booths Clarke had noticed upon walking in. 

Clarke looked closer, as the group turned around and she recognized Harper from work and the concert last night. Clarke had to stop being surprised at running into people in such a small town. Octavia rushed forward and hugged the boy that had just stood up outside of the booth, and Clarke noticed with the confusion that he was wearing comically large goggles on his head. He hugged Octavia back and then stepped to the side, looking sheepish, but Octavia just kept chatting animatedly about how long it had been since they had seen each other. After a minute or so, the kid with the goggles looked to the side to inspect Clarke, and Octavia followed his eyes as she turned around and caught sight of Clarke again.

"Oh, Clarke! These are some of my friends, we all went to school together!" Octavia continued, jabbing a thumb towards the kid with the goggles, "This dork is Jasper, and that's his partner in crime, Monty." They all laughed, even Clarke, she could see how the group of them together just radiated with chaotic energy.

Clarke beamed, saying hello to the boys, and then smiling at Harper as they both chatted about the party the night before, talking about how wild it was, especially with the way Octavia can break it down. The boys both whoop at that and the girls are rolling their eyes. Octavia jabs Jasper in the ribs with her elbow and he cries out, "Owwie O!! I'm sensitive!!" 

Octavia scoffs, "You're telling me, kid." She stands and goes up to the register to grab the take out menus to bring back to the table. Clarke snatches hers up and examines it, trying to decide between nearly nine different things. 

"This is great, we were just about to go up and order too," Harper grins, and it makes Clarke feel... strange. She can't remember a time in her life she felt so included. 

They all decide on ordering a ton of appetizers, and Clarke goes for Seafood Lo Mein, a classic in her book, plus she wants to see if this place is up to snuff. While they wait for their food they joke around about placing bets on Jasper vs. Octavia, but if Octavia had her hands tied behind her back. Harper is nearly in tears with laughter as they all double down, every single one of them still voting for Octavia, even Jasper. Clarke finally finds the courage to ask Jasper about the elephant in the room, the goggles still perched on his head. Jasper tries to make the story so epic and so valiant, but Monty interjects to tell Clarke the real truth, that Jasper singed off both of his eyebrows in tenth grade, so now he wears them to avoid embarrassment when he's playing around with flammable chemicals in the lab. Clarke laughs hysterically, imagining a baby faced Jasper with no eyebrows, and no facial hair, looking like a sphynx cat. She says as much, and she thinks Monty might start convulsing on the floor he's laughing so hard.

Just then, their food arrives, and they all dig in like it's been days since they've eaten. Clarke attempts to sneak an extra crab rangoon out from under Octavia and gets karate chopped before she can even get her fingers around one. Harper successfully snags some of Monty's potstickers and shares with her though. They all exclaim at how good the food is, and Clarke is blown away, it might even be better than back home. Her heart feels so full in this moment, she feels honestly included by people that are basically complete strangers to her, and she feels something deep in her heart, a platonic love she never knew could exist, start to take root. All of the weird anxiety of the day seems to evaporate, and she's left only with a deep contentment that radiates out from her like a blinding sun. Clarke tries to savor it, the image of all of her new friend's smiling faces, as she smiles back so hard it hurts. Clarke just wants to hold on to the joy for a moment longer, is that so much to ask?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... what did you think? They're off to a great start, aren't they? 
> 
> Sorry that it has been over a month since my last update. With this being my first fic I am workshopping a lot of new ideas and getting a lot of negative feedback made me go back through and re-work some of the main elements of this fic, but I'm back now and hope to continue updating every 2 weeks as I had planned from the jump. I want to thank all of the readers and kudo-ers up to this point, if any of you are still around thank you so so much, and I hope to see you next chapter.


End file.
